


A Little Push

by OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor



Series: Naruto Drabbles [10]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drunk Yamato, M/M, Sakura gets everyone in trouble, Sakura is sneaky, cheaper by the dozen inspiration, parent trap inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 18:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12588028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor/pseuds/OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor
Summary: A drunk Yamato shows a bit too much of his feelings for Kakashi, and Sakura decides that Team 7 has to get them together. This includes taking down any competition...





	A Little Push

**Author's Note:**

> Author has not finished Shippuden

      Yamato was drunk. Usually he would never drink in front of his team, but it had been a rough mission, they were safely back in the Leaf, and Yamato needed a drink. And after that close call, he didn’t mind buying his team dinner either. Though he might regret it in the morning, when he was sober enough to see how much Naruto ate. But they were all alive, and that was all that mattered.   
     “You knew Kakashi-sensi before you joined Team 7, right Captain Yamato?” Sakura asked. Normally Yamato would side-step the question, but they were alive, they were home, and Kakashi was amazing.   
     “I’ve known Kakashi for ages, since I was younger than you!” Yamato said. Sakura leaned forward and elbowed Naruto to pay attention. Maybe they would finally get some dirt on Kakashi-sensi!   
     “Man, he was such an angsty teenager!” Yamato said, shaking his head. “Thank god he grew out of that one! Not nearly as cool as he wanted everyone to believe, either. He’s still not as cool as he wants everyone to think.” Yamato laughed. “You should see him when one of his books comes out! Really, he’s such a nerd! Have you seen him walk into a tree because he couldn’t put the book down? I have. More than once!” Naruto’s chopsticks dangled almost forgotten in his hand, and even Sai inched closer. Seeing Captain Yamato like this, and hearing about Kakashi was not an opportunity to be missed.   
     “Did he get hurt?” Sakura asked.   
     “Nah, not from that. He’s tough. But man, when he does end up in the hospital...it’s the worst! The literal worst. I’m the only one who can make him stay in the hospital. I’m pretty sure some of the nurses have me on speed dial. Do you know how exhausting he is when he’s in the hospital? He tries to escape! Which just makes him worse! Sakura, you work with Lady Tsunade in the hospital, right? That’s not normal is it? Trying to escape the hospital?”   
     “Uh, no, not really, Captain Yamato,” Sakura said.   
     “See? Such a problem. It’s a good thing he’s pretty.” Yamato sighed, a distant look on his face. “Beautiful, really. The face of an angel. I’d wear a mask too, if I had a face like that. No one would be able to get anything done if he didn’t. They’d be too distracted,” Yamato said dreamily.   
      “You’ve seen his face?” Naruto asked, pushing his empty bowl aside to scoot closer to Yamato.   
     “Of course,” Yamato said.   
     “What!? How?” Naruto demanded.   
     “Why wouldn’t I have?” Yamato asked in confusion. Sakura punched Naruto in the shoulder and glared at him.  
     “What was that for?”  
     “For almost starting an argument when we could find out more about Kakashi-sensi,” she hissed. “What else can you tell us about Kakashi-sensi?” She asked Yamato. Sai tilted his head, trying to follow the change in her tone from threatening Naruto to the sticky-sweetness she was using on Captain Yamato. How could one person change so quickly?   
Yamato cocked his head at Sakura. “What did you want to know?” This threw Sakura off, but Naruto jumped in.  
     “Why can’t he ever manage to be on time?” He asked. “He’s supposed to be the adult.” Yamato burst out laughing.   
     “It’s not funny!” Naruto grumbled. “We spend so much time waiting for him!”   
     “Of course he’d still do that!” Yamato said, shaking his head. “Sometimes he really forgets. Or more likely gets so pulled into whatever novel he’s reading that he losses track of time. But most of the time, most of the time he’s there. Hiding. The asshole thinks it’s funny. He’s been this way since he started leading his own team. Consider it one of his quirks. He doesn’t mean any harm by it.   
     “No harm,” Naruto muttered. “We spend half our lives waiting for him!”  
     “How do you think I feel?” Yamato countered. “I’ve been waiting for Kakashi longer than you’ve been alive! He only messes with you because he cares. Damn, does he care about you kids. Like, like he’s your dad or something. What does that make me? The mom? Probably the mom. I can be your mom. I’d be a good mom, right? But Kakashi, he’s all about this. Loves his awkward dysfunctional family. The sap.” Yamato shook his head. Sakura stood up, pulling Naruto and Sai with her.   
     “What are doing? This was just getting good!” Naruto yelped.   
     “Shut. Up. I’ll tell you in a minute,” Sakura said, not releasing her grip on his arm. “Well good night, Captain Yamato!” She towed Sai and Naruto out of the restaurant with her.  
     “What the hell, Sakura? We could have gotten so much more out of him!” Naruto said.   
     “Don’t you see?” Sakura said. “Yamato’s in love with Kakashi-sensi! We have to do something for them.”   
     “How did you get there?” Naruto asked.   
     “We gave him an opening, and all he did was talk about Kakashi-sensi. Like, you don’t talk that much about someone when you’re drunk unless you spend a lot of time thinking about them when you’re sober,” Sakura explained. “We have to help them get together.”   
     “What if they do not want our help?” Sai asked. “Or they do not want to be together?”   
     “First, we’re not going to tell them, that would defeat the purpose. Captain Yamato is obviously in love with Kakashi, and they obviously need our help. You heard Captain Yamato, about how long they’ve known each other. If he hasn’t made a move by now, they need help,” Sakura said.   
     “But what about Kakashi?” Naruto asked. “What if he already has someone?”   
     “You’ve seen thee kind of books he reads,” Sakura said. “No one reads that much of that… Particular genre… If they’re getting some on a regular basis. He obviously is oblivious to Yamato’s feelings for him. What kind of a team would we be if we didn’t help our captain and our sensi get together?”   
     “I’m not sure about this,” Sai said.   
     “Sai. We’ve talked about this. Your perception of anything involving emotion is still questionable at best. And don’t even, Naruto, you have the emotional gauge of a sea slug.” Both boys stared at her for a moment before shrugging in agreement.  
     “So, what do we do, then?” Naruto asked. Sakura grinned, an extraordinarily evil expression in the dim glow of the streetlights.   
     “Meet me tomorrow, we have a date to plan.”

***

     “Now if we’re going to do this, wew’re going to do it right. And that means we need a plan,” Sakura said. “This date has to be something special, to get Kakashi-sensi to see how wonderful Captain Yamato is. We need to have every detail thought out.”   
      “How are we going to convince them to go on a date in the first place?” Sai asked. “According to my reading, there isn’t usually a third party involved in the process.”  
     “We’ll need to invent an excuse. One of us will bring Kakashi-sensi, and the other one will bring Captain Yamato. We have the whole thing set up, get them into position, then bolt.”   
     “That doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Naruto said. Sakura glared at him.   
     “It’s not, yet, numbskull. That’s why we’re here.”   
     “I’ve done quite a bit of reading about how to plan a date,” Sai offered. Sakura stared him down.   
     “Do I want to know why?” She asked.   
     “Probably not,” Sai mumbled, a light blush covering his cheeks.   
     “It’s got to be romantic,” Sakura said.   
     “And something Kakashi would like,” Naruto added. “But what does he like other than reading Prevy Sage’s trashy novels?”  
     “The date is definitely not going to involve those garbage books,” Sakura said firmly.  
    “Dates usually start with dinner,” Sai said. “And end with sex, if they go well.”   
    “Sai. Why?” Sakura asked. “Why do you have to go there?”   
     “I was just relating what I learned,” Sai said, confused about what he’d done to irk Sakura this time.   
     “The dog park!” Naruto interrupted.  
     “What?” Sakura asked, shifting her attention away from Sai.   
     “They could take Kakashi’s ninken to the dog park,” Naruto said.  
     “That’s… Actually not too bad,” she admitted. “But more like a second or third date than a first date. We need something romatic, something special, to break the ice and make them see each other in a romantic light.”   
     “Parasailing?” Naruto suggested.  
     “Be realistic!” Sakura said. She smacked him on the back of the head. “Sai might be onto something with the dinner idea, then they could stroll through town, maybe take in a movie… It’s classic, I think it has some potential!”   
     “We defer to your judgement,” Sai said.   
     “I think that would be for the best,” Sakura said.   
***

      It took a couple weeks to put their plan into action, a short mission and Sakura’s exacting standards getting in the way. But they finally had a plan, all the details were in place, they just needed Yamato and Kakashi in thee right place at the right time.   
      “Now Sai, remember, you’re going to tell Yamato that Kakashi is in the hospital and we need his help. Naruto, you’re going that Jiraiya gave you an Icha Icha manuscript. I’ll be setting up dinner. Understand?” The boys nodded. This was about the thirty-fifth time Sakura had been over The Plan with them.

     “Sai, what are you doing? This is not the way to the hospital.” Sakura could hear Yamato protesting.  
     “Please, Captain Yamato. Don’t get me in trouble with Sakura,” Sai pleaded. Sakura gritted her teeth. She had told him to do whatever it took to get Yamato here…  
     “What the hell?” Yamato said as they stepped into the clearing. A single table, set for two, stood in the middle of the clearing. Sakura had taken great care with the presentation, from the flowers in the center of the table, to the candles, to the crisp tablecloth.   
      “Please, sit down,” Sai said, smiling that not-quite-real smile of his.   
      “Sai, we’re supposed to be going to the hospital,” Yamato said in his best tying-to-be-patient tone. Sakura stepped forward.  
      “About that, Captain Yamato… You’re not really needed at the hospital. We, uh, we just wanted to do something nice for you…” Yamato’s whole frame sagged in relief.   
     “So Kakashi isn’t hurt?” Sakura winced. Apparently that wasn’t the best ruse they could have used on Captain Yamaato, even if it was effective.  
      “Um, no, sorry about that… Actually, he should be here any minute now.” Several shadow clones tore into the clearing, waving something book-shaped. Kakashi followed hotly, skidding to a stop in the clearing.  
     “What the hell,” he said, looking around.  
     “That’s exactly what I said, Senpai,” Yamato said. “Apparently they want to treat us.” The younger members of Team 7 grinned. Kakashi ran a hand through his messy silver hair.   
     “I guess we can’t disappoint them, then.” He pulled out Yamato’s chair and sat down himself. Naruto brought out the first plate of food.  
     “Did Sakura cook this?” Kakashi asked quietly. Naruto shook his head.  
     “Nah, Sai did. Turns out he’s an all right cook.”   
     “Should be safe to eat, then,” Kakashi whispered to Yamato.   
     “What do you think the kids are up to?” Yamato asked his senpai.  
     “Who knows?” Kakashi said, slipping a bite behind his mask in one practice movement. “But whatever it is, we might as well just go with it, huh?”  
     “Might as well,” Yamato said with a sigh. “But do we really have to pretend they’re not giggling five feet away?” Kakashi shrugged.  
     “It’s their night off too, if they want to be restrauntuers instead of ninja for a night, who am I to stop them?”  
Kakashi and Yamato left together, but Sakura wasn’t satisfied.  
     “I don’t think they got it,” she said sadly.  
     “They left together, isn’t that a good thing?” Naruto asked.   
     “They left together but they didn’t leave together,” Sakura explained.   
     “Sakura, that makes no sense!” Naruto argued.   
     “You’re not listening to my tone,” Sakura huffed. “There’s a difference between leaving together and leaving together. Don’t you get it?”  
     “No,” the boys chorused together.   
     “I have so much work to do,” Sakura said. “Stick with me, boys, I’ll take care of you. But for now, we need another plan.”

***

     “Sakura, your plan might have a problem,” Sai said, staying carefully out of his teammate’s range. She wasn’t upset, yet, but Sai knew she wouldn’t like his news.   
     “Captain Yamato was eating at Ichiraku Ramen with Iruka,” Sai said. “They appeared to be having quite a good time.” Sakura bit her lip.  
     “We can’t let him give up on Kakashi-sensi! He’s held on for so long!” Sakura said. “We’ll have to do something,” Sakura said decisively.  
     “But if he wants to spend time with Iruka…” Sai said before Sakura interrupted him.   
     “Captain Yamato’s had this unrequited love thing going on with Kakashi-sensi for years. We just can’t let him give up!” She paused, thinking. “We’ll have to find a way to send Iruka-sensi a message.”   
     “Sakura, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Sai said. Sakura glared at him.   
     “Remember what we talked about, Sai?”  
     “That you deal with the emotions, and I follow your lead,” Sai repeated.   
     “Very good,” Sakura said.   
     “Sorry I’m late!” Naruto panted. “But Sakura, your plan might be in trouble! I saw Kakashi-sensi and Guy in the training fields, and they were like, hanging out. It was weird. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Guy that still before…” Sakura threw her hands up in frustration.   
    “Fine! We’ll deal with him too! But we will get Kakashi-sensi and Captain Yamato together!” Sai and Naruto carefully stepped away from Sakura. Her expression was terrifying.  
    “Too?” Naruto asked. “What other problem do we have?”  
     “Iruka,” Sai told him. They watched Sakura pace and mutter to herself. “I saw him having dinner with Captain Yamato. They seemed to be having a good time.”   
     “But I like Iruka-sensi!” Naruto said. “He was always nice to me. Captain Yamato could do worse.”   
     “That’s not the point!” Sakura yelled. Naruto and Sai both flinched.   
     “She’s really set on this, isn’t she?” Naruto said in his best attempt at a whisper. Sai nodded.  
     “Listen! I just want them to be happy, alright?” Sakura growled. “You heard the way Captain Yamato talked about Kakashi-sensi. They’re meant for each other. We just have to make them see that. And if that means scaring them away from Guy and Iruka and toward each other, well, that’s just what we’ll have to do, ok?” Sai and Naruto nodded. It was the safest response.

***  
     “Are we sure we want to do this?” Sai asked.   
     “Is the ANBU operative wimping out on me?” Sakura asked. Sai didn’t say anything. It was often his best tactic for dealing with Sakura.   
     “It’s so simple,” Sakura said. “You and Naruto are going to have your little water fight for the sake of your socialization, get Guy involved…”   
     “Are you sure he’ll go for this?” Sai asked, somewhat against his better judgement.  
     “It’s a ‘youthful activity’. He’ll be all about it. Get him involved, back to Naruto’s apartment for you all to dry off, I doctor up the jumpsuit, we send up off to the training grounds, and Kakashi-sensi’s hounds take of the rest. It’s simple.” It didn’t sound particularly simple to Sai, but he wasn’t about to argue with Sakura once she set her mind to something. She handed him a fully loaded squirt gun and a bucket of water balloons.   
     “Now go have fun!” She said, shoving him into the street. Sai didn’t know about having ‘fun’, but he would fulfill his mission.

     Sakura’s plan worked surprisingly well, Sai thought, following a drenched Naruto and Might Guy into Naruto’s tiny apartment. The green-clad ninja had joined in with gusto the moment the first water ballon hit him. NAruto disappeared into the bedroom and reemerged in dry clothes. He threw another dry set of clothes at Sai.   
     “They should fit,” Naruto said. “Guy, I’m afraid I don’t have anything that would fit you… But I can dry your jumpsuit while you’re here,” he offered. Guy stripped to his boxers shamelessly, handing Naruto the dripping jumpsuit. Naruto tried not to wince as he took it. He held the offending garment away from his body as he walked to the tiny laundry room where Sakura was hiding.   
    “Do your worst,” he muttered to her. Sakura’s grin was terrifying as she stuffed Guy’s jumpsuit into a carefully sealed container of raw hamburger.   
Guy had no problem lecturing on the power of youth and telling his captive audience about his own youthful adventures while he waited for his jump suit to dry. Naruto thought it might be worse than the time Pervy Sage made him read an Icha Icha manuscript. The dryer dinged and Naruto leapt up in the middle of one of Guy’s stories.  
     “That would be your clothes!” He said, abandoning Sai in the living room. He wrinkled his nose as he took the warm spandex from Sakura.  
     “This smells disgusting. No way this is going to work,” Naruto said.   
     “Just take it!” Sakura hissed. Guy slipped the jumpsuit on without comment.   
     “Well, I’m off to the trading grounds to meet my rival! Nothing like challenging one’s rival after a morning of refreshing youthful activity!” Guy called as he left the apartment. Naruto slumped on the couch as the door slammed.   
     “Let’s never do that again,” Naruto said, closing his eyes. “Guy’s enough to wear out even a hyperactive knucklehead like me.” Sakura emerged from her hiding place.   
     “Why are you sitting down? Don’t you want to see how it turns out? We have to get down to the training fields!” Sakura said, pulling Naruto up by his ear.   
     “Ow ow ow! What was that for? You didn’t spend the last hour listening to Guy’s stories about his youthful rivalries!”   
     “We all have different jobs on a mission,” Sakura said. “Now come on! I don’t want to miss this!” Naruto groaned, but he stood up.  
     “This better be worth it, Sakura.”

    “We can’t let them see us,” Sakura said, leading the boys along the edge of the training field. “If we climb into this tree, we should be able to see everything without being detected.”  
     “We didn’t have to rush,” Naruto grumbled. “You know Kakashi-sensi is always late.” He settled himself on a branch and closed his eyes. “Wake me up when it gets interesting.”   
    “He’s here!” Sakura said, poking Naruto. “Wake up, you’ll want to see what happens!”  
    “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Naruto grumbled. But he focused his attention on the training field all the same. They watched as Kakashi tried to dodge Guy’s affectionate greeting, as they started sparring, and as Kakashi summoned the ninken. The usually well-behaved pack of ninja hounds went nuts. They attacked. Guy, trying to get mouthfuls of his jumpsuit. Guy ducked and dodged the pack of hounds with his usual good humor while Kakashi shouted. The dogs didn’t listen. The dogs chased Guy, and Kakashi chased the dogs. Naruto clutched his sides, barely managing to stay in the tree as he laughed.   
     “See?” Sakura said. “I knew you wouldn’t want to miss this.” Kakashi finally stopped chasing his pack and undid the summoning jutsu. The ninken vanished, and Kakashi inspected the rips and tears in Guy’s jumpsuit. He visibly gagged when he got close enough to smell the meat-soaked jumpsuit. Guy waved him away. Sakura frowned.  
    “We might want to avoid Kakashi-sensi for a while, in case he figures it out…” Sakura said, chewing her bottom lip. “But it had to be done.”

***  
     “I’m so glad to have Team 7’s help with these preparations,” Iruka said. “It takes a lot of preparation to take a whole class of first year academy students into the forest for a couple days.” Iruka smiled at them. Naruto shuffled uncomfortably. He liked Iruka, and wasn’t sure what Sakura was likely to do.   
     “You can count on us, Iruka-sensi!” He said. Maybe he could talk Sakura out of any mischief… Naruto relaxed as they helped Iruka set up the camp site, checking out the area, making sure it would give the beginning ninjas a good taste of camping out for a mission without being likely to kill any of them.   
     “A treat, isn’t it? Getting to sleep in tents?” Iruka said as they sat around the campfires. “I even brought air mattresses for tonight, as a treat.” He winked at team 7. “Don’t get too spoiled, though. I doubt your Captain or your sensi would thank me for that.” Iruka grinned across the campfire at Yamato and Kakashi. “One night won’t ruin them, eh?”   
     “Probably not,” Yamato said, smiling back. Naruto glanced uneasily at Sakura. She hadn’t said anything, but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

     “Psst, Sai, wake up,” Sakura whispered. “I need your help.” Sai crawled out of his tent.   
     “What do you need?” He asked. Sakura’s grin was positively evil.   
     “We’re going to push Iruka’s air mattress into the lake. Now, help me out. We need to do this slowly and carefully. He can’t wake up, and we can’t wake Naruto, either. He’s too close to Iruka. He wouldn’t like this.”  
     “Is… Is this really a good idea?” Sai asked.  
     “Don’t you wimp out on me too! We’ve gone too far with this plan to wimp out now,” Sakura growled. Sai decided it was in his best interest not to argue with her. It was a slow process, inching Iruka’s air mattress out of the tent, then down to the water’s edge, without waking him, Kakashi, Yamato, or Naruto.   
    “Bon voyage,” Sakura whispered. Sai looked at her sideways, more terrified of the pink-haired kunoichi in that moment than ever before.   
     An ear splitting shriek had Team 7 scrambling out of their tents. The sun was barely risen. A loud splash drew their attention to the lake. Iruka surfaced, spluttering. He focused the chakra in his feet, climbing out of the water.   
     “What the hell,” Yamato said, looking at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye.  
     “Not me this time,” Kakashi said. Sakura tried not to look too interested at the ‘this time’ comment. Kakashi turned suddenly, staring Team 7 down with his one visible eye.   
     “Spill. What are you lot up to?” Yamato also focused his attention on them. Naruto shuffled uncomfortably. If anyone snapped under the pressure, it would be him. Naruto glanced at Sakura, and Kakashi followed the motion.   
     “Well, well, looks like Sakura is the one who’s going to be answering my questions. Well? Explain.” What could she say? Sakura wondered. There had to be some answer that would satisfy Kakashi and still keep their true motives a secret.   
     “Sakura. Stop. You know better than to lie to me,” Kakashi said, cutting through her thoughts. Sakura sighed in defeat.   
     “Fine. We were trying to get you and Captain Yamato together.” Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.   
     “You were WHAT,” Yamato asked.   
     “You obviously love him,” Sakura said. “He was all you could talk about when you got drunk after that mission.”   
     “You talk about me when you’re drunk?” Kakashi said obviously grinning under his mask.   
     “Not the point right now, Senpai,” Yamato said, though his face was burning. “Your kids pushed Iruka into the lake.”  
     “OUR kids, and technically they pushed an air mattress into the lake.”   
     “Still not the point,” Yamato said.   
     “Wait, did you do something to Guy as well?” Kakashi asked, turning his focus back to his team.   
     “We might have soaked his jumpsuit in meat,” Sakura admitted. Kakashi’s eyebrows shot to his hair line.  
     “That certainly explains the reaction of the ninken… But why? If you were trying to get us together, why would you target Guy and Iruka?” Yamato groaned.  
     “Oh no. No, please tell me I’m wrong in this. They were competition, weren’t they?” Team 7 shuffled and stared at the ground. Yamato broke first, laughing so hard he had to rest his hand on his knees. Kakashi laughed too, tears streaming from his visible eye, one hand on Yamato’s shoulder for balance.   
     “I think you broke them,” Sai said to Sakura.  
     “Do we tell them?” Kakashi asked Yamato.   
     “It’s more fun if we don’t,” Yamato said. “But who knows how much well-meaning damage they’ll cause?”   
     “They’ve been together since Kakashi left the ANBU,” Iruka said. He stood dripping on the shore, hands on his hips. This set Yamato and Kakashi off again. Sakura looked back and forth between them and Iruka.  
     “What,” she finally managed.  
     “Oh yes,” Iruka said. “Back me up, unless you’d like to go swimming next.” His voice held just a touch of threat.   
     “He’s right,” Yamato said. Kakashi nodded.   
     “Oh my god,” Sakura said still in shock.  
    “Way to go, Sakura!” Naruto burst out laughing. “You decided to set up two people who have been together longer than we’ve been alive!” He ducked as Sakura took a swing at him. Somehow Sai got pulled into the scuffle and the three younger ninja raced around the camp.   
     “Well, looks like things are back to normal, then,” Yamato said with a sigh. “Should we break them up?”  
     “Nah, let let them get it out of their system,” Kakashi said. “It’s good for morale. And we’ll have to remember that Sakura is a decent strategist, when she puts her mind to it.”


End file.
